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Sunday, 26 February 2017

This gripping, page-turning fantasy adventure follows a dangerous quest through a divided world.

From the high reaches of a tree, Fliss watches the soldiers attempting yet again to break through the invisible wall. Amid the explosions, a drummer boy tries to escape. As he is about to be shot, Fliss reaches through the wall and pulls him to safety. But Fliss is dismayed to find she has saved an overfed rich boy. She is even more dismayed to learn that she must accompany him back through the wall on a special mission to rescue the Nightingale.

The world they have to travel through is a perilous one, full of predatory thieves, slave masters, beggars, dippers, mudlarks, drain-sliders, spies and wall-men. It is a world where the ruling families are caught up in a lethal power struggle.

Will Fliss and the despised drummer boy learn to trust each other? Who is the Nightingale? And will they all make it back alive?

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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To read a novel
that was clearly young adult but set in a fantasy world based in an olden-day
time of slavery was slightly unnerving, if I’m being completely honest. I was
absolutely certain that reading this story with the protagonist being
considered a slave for the fact that her skin is black would set me in an
uncomfortable ease the whole way through; unfortunately that feeling stuck and
made it hard for me to really try and see past the discrimination. Maurice Gee
is a well-known New Zealand based author who has written titles such as Under The Mountain and the Salt trilogy and has won multiple
literary awards for his writing. I have never read his work before this so I
had no clue as to what I would be immersing myself in. I received The Severed Land from Penguin Random
House as a uniquely wrapped package – the book itself was wrapped within a
blown up poster print of the map inside the book, a brief message from the
author explaining his writing hiatus, and everything was tied up in a twine
bow.

One thing I felt I
could relate to was the character of Fliss with her fiery personality and confidence.
She has spent three years on the safe side of the wall that divides the land to
keep the Families of the south out - the two most powerful being the Despiners
and the Morisettes. The northern side of the wall is filled with natives of the
land who have never known slavery and the People of the forest who sacrificed
their lives to create this wall to keep them safe and out of reach. Fliss had
escaped slavery from the south, spending many days and nights scavenging for
food and safe places to hide while she fled towards her new home. Fliss has
learnt to value herself through love, acceptance, and the knowledge that she is
stronger and smarter than anyone may think of her. When she meets this drummer
boy, Kirt, who is arrogant and simple-minded, nothing hateful he says seems to
offend her and this becomes the starting point of character development between
these two characters.

Other than the
parts that slightly bothered me, all the grammar, punctuation, and style of
writing was absolutely impeccable. This was clearly set in a time where cannons
and swords were still being used as a form of attack and defence within their
army’s. It definitely felt like a novel that would appeal more to those that
take interest in old-fashioned stories or people of an older age – being a YA
novel was clearly due to Fliss being of a young age, though considering the
opinions of todays readers–specifically in the USA–this novel may not be such a
hit with many who have previously felt targeted by skin colour and ethnicity, religion
or culture, and mental or physical disabilities. I have seen personally how
much of the book community has reacted recently to a few books where authors
have only made the mistake of not including or accidentally discriminating
against someone for something so obvious and hurtful. As much as it bothers me
to say, I don’t think this book would go down well with many readers like
myself and therefore would suit maybe an older, more mature audience that might
be able to take this story with knowledge and acceptance that times like those
have been and gone. For generations of people who have grown up without the old
European mentality that being different is wrong, this novel would not exactly
fit well within many of our expectations and I personally don’t want to feel
like I want to have to bring down a NZ author anymore than I need to. This has
not biased me towards Maurice Gee’s other works; I’d still like to check out
his other stand-alone novels and series’. All I can say for The Severed Land is that I honestly feel
like I cannot promote it anymore than what I feel I should and being a kiwi
myself it feels almost wrong to be so brutally honest, but I hate the idea of
lying and going against the grain of my community.

I have given this book a two out of five stars because it at least deserves to be noted as a book that has been written by an author who clearly knows his way around literature and art. It truly is a masterpiece of words but not so much considering his targeted audience - he may have had better luck with an older audience, I really hope so.

So without any other random and unnecessary chatter, I will end with this gif and leave this terribly short review to simmer away slowly into the depths of the internet.

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

Cyra is the sister of the brutal tyrant who rules the Shotet people. Cyra’s currentgift gives her pain and power — something her brother exploits, using her to torture his enemies. But Cyra is much more than just a blade in her brother’s hand: she is resilient, quick on her feet, and smarter than he knows.

Akos is the son of a farmer and an oracle from the frozen nation-planet of Thuvhe. Protected by his unusual currentgift, Akos is generous in spirit, and his loyalty to his family is limitless. Once Akos and his brother are captured by enemy Shotet soldiers, Akos is desperate to get this brother out alive — no matter what the cost.

The Akos is thrust into Cyra's world, and the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. Will they help each other to survive, or will they destroy one another?

Carve the Mark is Veronica Roth's stunning portrayal of the power of friendship — and love — in a galaxy filled with unexpected gifts.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW

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Having waited a
whole year since I’d heard about the new highly anticipated novel by Veronica
Roth, the author of the Divergent
series of which I am definitely a fan, I almost couldn’t believe that it had
finally shown up at my doorstep the day of it’s release. My immediate action
following was to post a tweet about it and ask all my bookish friends and
followers if they had gotten their copy yet as I was thrilled to be a part of
something that had already been talked about by many BookTubers like Whitney
Atkinson and Sasha Alsberg. However the response I received there wasn’t the
desired result and instead made me wonder if I had been filling myself up for
months and months with a false hope. One person said they didn’t want to read
it and another said they would read it anyway but weren’t too excited for it –
all because this book supposedly had a theme of racism. As many might realise,
this had guttered me to the point where I literally considered just leaving it
and explaining my biased opinion to HarperCollins NZ and the public. But I
quickly realised how I’d felt about most things I’d heard about biased opinions
towards books or authors recently and decided that I would give it a chance
anyway. This is where I tell you that I do not regret that decision one little
bit.

In a magical
fantasy/sci fi world where everyone harbours a currentgift that represents
their inner selves, Cyra Noavek and Akos Kereseth are nothing alike, yet fate
will bring them together in a way that will change the divide forever. From the
first chapter I was hooked onto every little word, detail, scene, and twist – I
found myself wanting to return to reading it just so I could be a little more
satisfied everyday and find out what Cyra Noavek would say next. This novel has
been written in a strange way that seems to bring out the best in the outcome
of the novel. Cyra is written in first person and Akos is written in third
person; I assume this may be because Cyra’s reputation makes her a questionable
character so reading in first person would help connect with her and understand
her more. Akos is more creditable and comes from the peaceful planet of Thuvhe,
which makes it understandable that he would be written in third person. But
honestly, it’s probably only because Veronica Roth was trying to state who the
main protagonist was and use Cyra as an example for those who may not
understand people that suffer through chronic pain (as Roth had mentioned in
her acknowledgements at the end). There seemed to be an endless amount of room
for interpretation so you never quite know what is going to happen next,
although I have to admit that I managed to figure out a few basic things on my
own before it happened. I think this was only because when I wasn’t reading Carve The Mark, I was thinking about it
– the storyline, the characters, the currentgifts, what the hushflowers and
saltfruit would taste like in real life. I guess that says enough about how
gripping it was – I wish I could say more!

In terms of the
controversy of racism in Carve The Mark,
I feel like I can understand how some, or a lot, of people got upset at the
thought. However, in my opinion I feel like the accusation may have gone a
little too far. Yes, it is based on hostility between two different bloodlines
and that the Noavek family, who have darker skin, are said to be brutal and
unforgiving. But it honestly did not feel like Veronica Roth was making it a
point to do this in a way that was offensive or intended. Maybe she was trying
to get at a point but have a turning point at the end of her series where
everyone forgives each other for the past and move on with better leaders and
more cooperation. Either way I think that it is fair to say that this was
indeed an intensely written book with bloodshed, magic, and powerful bonds of love
that made it an unforgettable read. I cannot think of a way to explain how
shocked I was to find that this novel was almost as good as the Divergent trilogy. Character development
is through the roof with A+’s, grammar and punctuation on point, and sentences
bloomed with colour and adjectives with every page turned. I felt like I was
watching the movie inside my mind with a vivid force and I cannot go another
day without knowing that this will definitely be optioned. I’m sure with
Veronica’s success in the past, it won’t be long before it’ll happen again.
Just please don’t be biased by rumours or opinions you hear on the Internet –
everyone is different and it pays to give books a chance. I wouldn’t have
become the reader I am today if I had never picked up Twilight. Just saying!

Things I LOVED About Carve The Mark!

·‘Carve
the mark’ means carving a mark and adding feathergrass for each kill/loss a
person has. If there was
any more reason to get another tattoo, it would be this novel. In my mind, the
idea of having consecutive cuts on the wrists is usually when someone is
depressed and has cut their skin for emotional relief. So the way that Veronica
has included this in Carve The Mark
makes me feel better for those who still have those scars. I hope it inspires
them to not be embarrassed or hide them – symbolically they show their strength
and that they made it through the bad times. That they survived their ‘fight’.

·Cyra
is a representation of those who suffer through chronic pain. I love when authors make the effort to
include a certain character who will represent others in real life that are
suffering so that readers will gain an insight as to what they might be going
through. If more authors could do this with their protagonists and maybe even
the entire cast of their novel, more and more people would become aware of
conditions that plague many real people everyday and make them want to do
something that could help raise more awareness – spread the word, guys!

·Hushflowers,
iceflowers, saltfruit, feathergrass? Yes please! If there is anything more satisfying while reading a
novel, it’s reading about food and plants that are made up but still sound
amazing when being used to make a potion or meal that you’ve never tried
before. The imagination goes wild when trying to imagine how an imaginary fruit
or flower might taste like. Is your mouth watering yet? No? Hmm, try reading Carve The Mark, and then get back to me!

·Currentgifts
are basically like Twilight vampire
powers, only cooler! So
basically there is the current, which is an invisible power that flows through
the currentstream and surrounds all the planets -this gives power to ships,
boats, weapons, and even gives the people their currentgifts. The usual time
people find out their currentgift power is when they go through puberty – so
now I feel ripped off with life and feel like asking God for a refund. Anyway,
I think my currentgift would be to feel and change emotions of other people,
kind of like Jasper from Twilight.
What would yours be? (Comment yours below!)

·Space
travel has never felt more real than when I read this novel! If only it were possible to have space
ships like the one the Shotet use for their sojourns, I would absolutely love
to go to another planet and immerse myself in their different cultures and
languages. If there were anything I would like to know about the universe, it
would be to know that we are not alone in this dark abyss. One day in the far
future we might be like the Shotet travelling to far away planets and creating
alliances with other species like ourselves.

·This
book has a theme that many people still don’t realise: Unity. If I’ve learnt anything in my lifetime
living in New Zealand (being such a multicultural/multiracial country), and
observing USA from afar (noticing that they are too a multicultural/multiracial
country but have a history of slavery and racism), I’ve come to the realisation
that the only way that everyone will accept one another is if we all unite and love
one another, no matter the skin colour, religion, or gender. I believe that
this series will be a development of unity between different races, but it is
very much something that many of us still need to work on. History is the past
and unity is the future. Start believing that we are all worthy of one another
– Cyra and Akos eventually figured it out and we can too.

This has been the
first novel to ever make me revel the idea of space travel, made me
knowledgeable about the reality of people suffering with chronic pain, and
align me with the true importance of unity. Cyra, like myself, finds herself
fascinated with things that may not be as appealing to others. Akos finds a
thick skin being around Cyra but learns that there is a bigger story behind the
ones who withhold their emotions to appear strong. The symbolism in this novel
would be enough to touch the hearts of those who don’t think they deserve to
feel the reassurance of love and kindness. If you are one of the people who
aren’t willing to read Carve The Mark
because of what you might have heard or read online, then please hear what I am
saying and try to give it a chance. Try to understand that authors aren’t
trying to come across as racist or sexist, they are only storytellers trying to
fill the imaginations of those who seek fantasy’s refuge. We as readers of the modern age have become
such dictators of the author’s work that they can no longer do their jobs
without feeling like they have a target on their back. We have to remember that
they are doing what they love and they want to know that you will love it too. Carve The Mark has more important themes
and symbolism than anyone may realise and it deserves to be given that chance
to be heard. Veronica Roth also deserves a chance to show that she had innocent
motives while writing this book. I personally feel like she was trying to be
diverse with both race and sexuality (yes, there is a theme of LGBT in here
too), which made me feel so much better about my decision to read it. I don’t
know what else I can say to convince those who have already made up their minds
to DNF it before they had even started, but mostly I just wanted to convince
everyone that it isn’t terrible like some people say. The deeper you look into
it, the more you will realise how the development of the two races in this
novel will astound you. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book!

After giving it
much thought, I’ve given this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Don’t get me wrong;
I’d love to give it outright 5 stars because I actually loved it a lot!
However, there were a few things at the end that I felt weren’t quite wrapped
up as well as they could have been. This could just be Veronica angling the
storyline towards an action-packed sequel so please forgive me if I made a bad
call. I guess the plain fact that I am aching to know what happens next is
reason enough to push my followers to pick it up and go for it. I’d be happy to
hear everyone’s thoughts on it down below in the comments to see if I have
missed anything important or just to read everyone’s opinions

Thank you HarperCollins New Zealand for the review copy of Carve The Mark! Go check out their links here:

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Welcome to my book blog!

The Booklanders143 members*Updated group info*
This bookclub will meet every 6-9 weeks. Each meeting will consist of a discussion of the last book we read, a quiz or game related to the book, and a quick vote of what our next book should be (I will put a poll on this group page, though, so everyone gets a vote!)
There will be spot prizes at every meeting. Things like Whitcoulls gift cards, signed books, regular books, bookmarks, subscription boxes, etc!
This book club will be mostly YA, but remember, YA is a point of view, not an age range c:

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